Thread: You can lead a razor to a beard but you can't make it shave

My best friend (Carl) just left The Boars Nest for the airport to return to California, I've known him for over 50 years and in the last couple of years I've given him a DE and a SE injector to try to persuade him away from the twin blade heads that are replaced on an existing handle with no success. I'd figured there was hope as he does use a brush and bowl to make his shaving lather.

I'd given him the DE and SE via USPS mail and wasn't expecting much. Well yesterday he arrived here after visiting with a mutual friend and his wife (Al and Carolyn) and Carolyn sent a very beat up Royal Keen Kutter and apparently Carolyn just wanted me to have it so I took Carl to my very humble 'shop' and proceeded to clean it up. He was impressed and was full of questions.

After it was presentable I asked him if I provided a strop and a Barber Hone to take with the straight back home if he would give it a sincere attempt. He said he'd 'try'.

He was staying with his son and I told him that I'd have it shave ready when he stopped by on his way back to the airport and it was. It took a really nice edge and I'd given it a full shave, cleaned it, re-stropped it, sanitized it and had a light coat of oil on it.

I really should have taken better pictures as the razor looks much better than this but for the straight razor shaving world to see, here's what I sent him home with. The Razor, my beloved Illinois 827 and a very recently acquired Barber Hone.



Wish me luck! I may need some.

Some people go through life without ever having a real friend.

Carl is lucky.

You are more brave than I. I don't bother trying to persuade my friends to use a SR. If they ask about it, I tell them about it. But mostly they are way too hard headed to take my advice on anything never mind shaving with a SE. My brother had used one for a short period of time many years ago. I'm sure that it was NOT shave ready and he complained of it hacking his face up quite nicely. He still has the razor somewhere. I offered to hone it up for him so he could try again. No dice. But he too likes a brush and good soap. So I keep him stocked with good soap every year. That's where I leave it.

What a fantastic gesture. I sincerely hope that Carl takes to straight shaving like a duck takes to water. All of us should have been so lucky in the beginning. He's off to a great start.

Pete <:-}

That was a great gesture and he must consider you a true friend to take you up on it. Most "friends" I tell about it look at me quizzically, as if they're judging whether I'm joking or I should be institutionalized.

SRP is a special gang.

I never try to convince anyone to try a straight, though I have set up a few people who expressed interest on their own. However, I regularly encourage people to try a safety razor and for that reason I buy any decent ones that I can find for under $5. Almost all have become converts.

Because your friend never tried the safety razor, I will speculate that he might try it once, find it to be difficult, and then give up. I don't know the guy but if he was not interested in trying the safety razor you sent him, then I doubt he is interested enough to out the effort into a straight.

I hope I am wrong.

I also hope you eventually get your strop back relatively intact!

Originally Posted by OCDshaver

You are more brave than I.

I would say that 'I'm more stubborn' than brave. As I wrote this isn't the first time I've tried to persuade him to try something different.

If I understand him about what he's currently using and he gives up trying the straight, I can always send him this to hold the slide on blades on/it's solid brass:

Originally Posted by Utopian

I never try to convince anyone to try a straight, though I have set up a few people who expressed interest on their own. However, I regularly encourage people to try a safety razor and for that reason I buy any decent ones that I can find for under $5. Almost all have become converts.

Because your friend never tried the safety razor, I will speculate that he might try it once, find it to be difficult, and then give up. I don't know the guy but if he was not interested in trying the safety razor you sent him, then I doubt he is interested enough to out the effort into a straight.

I hope I am wrong.

I also hope you eventually get your strop back relatively intact!

Ron, if I get the strop back intact or not isn't important, at least he agreed to give learning this age old art a try. That's something that he didn't do with the DE/SE's. Those are still sitting at his place somewhere Unused.

He had expressed displeasure with the way of shaving he'd been using and that's why I've offered him alternatives.

As my dad used to say; :You never know till you try".

I *never* encourage someone to start with a straight razor, I will help anyone with the *desire*, but I only suggest a DE to start. If they come back all cut up, a straight is not the way to go for them. On the other hand, most seem to handle a DE well enough, once you explain how to actually use one properly, and some progress to the straight enquiry.

As for the Illinoise 827 strop, I love mine and I find it (much like my neck beard) able to take an accidental flip of the razor and just *bog* it down, without cuts of any significance (the strop, not my neck!. I've nicked all 3 of my skin side out strops, but my 827 just shrugs those incidents off, and it's a great strop. I didn't much care for the linen side until I ran across a thread somewhere, where someone used a well worn DMT 325 to scrub off the plastic surface.... I did it to mine and wow, what a difference. The DMT can apparently be used on the leather side too... Mine was very "shaggy" when new, but I used pumice stone and a sharp knife to condition the surface... I think a DMT 325 would have made much shorter work of it.

So, the 827.... I wouldn't worry about it... it's quite nick proof, and cheap to replace in case I'm wrong!

The hone should survice fine, unless dropped on a hard floor.

Hope things work out and you've converted your friend. My friends think I'm nuts!


Regards

Kaptain "Roasted nuts?" Zero

I guess I should clarify something.

Back in the day when you needed to start to shaving, you didn't go out and buy something, you used what was on hand! At least we did.
My friend is 66 years old (that's how I've known him for over 50 years), both he and I used our father's razors when we needed to start shaving and they were DE's and Or SE's!

Anyway while it's been many years since Carl has used a DE or SE he's well aware of how they work and I'm confident that he will proceed with caution.

I've sent him links to helpful videos and I have at least one experienced friend who lives very close to him if he wants some one on one help.

I have full confidence that he will indeed give it a good try if nothing else to show me that he can.

OH! If back 5 or so years ago when I was thinking about using a straight and someone had said not to , just use the DE first, I would have still used the straight just to show them that I could.

As said, I'm Stubborn. I'm hoping that Carl is still as Stubborn as he has been many times in the past just to show me that he can do it and do it well!